


Running from your past

by Fabulanon



Series: Young Warrior [5]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alien Planet, Alien Technology, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Family, Friendship, Gen, Implied Sexual Content, Inhumans (Marvel), Love, Original Alien Species - Freeform, Original Mythology, Original planet, Superpowers, Torture, Trust, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-27 03:41:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16694758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabulanon/pseuds/Fabulanon
Summary: Nicole has finally been accepted into the team, under her real identity: Melorae. She soon comes in useful, when earth is raided by a strange alien species, with unknown motives. But not everything is what it seems, and the team is is more danger than they can imagine





	1. The Girako

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys! I just wanted to make sure that you know, that this is part 5 of my "book". If you've missed parts 1, 2, 3, and 4: please read those first, especially part 1 and part 4, since they will introduce some of the original main characters.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole's knowledge as Melorae suddenly comes to use, as an unknown alien suddenly appears on earth.

Nicole was sitting alone in her room, just playing some tunes on her guitar. I had been 4 months since she had revealed her secret identity as ‘Lady Melorae I’aiki, princess of Asgard, Flame of the New World, and heir to the throne of Aarkaa’aaria, daughter to her majesty Niuwa I’aiki of Aarkaa’aaria, Fire of Unity, Keeper of the Embers of Burning Mount Kir’aii, and Protector of the Fire Nation’, to the team. She had been nervous at first. Afraid that her secret would get out, and war would break out on Earth, Asgard, and Aarkaa’aaria… But now, everyone had just accepted it as fact, and moved on. And no one spoke about it either. As far as they knew, she was Nikki, not Melorae. And to be fair, after all the time she spent on Earth, she might as well be human. She grew up here, she lived here, and died here, before being reborn, and starting all over again… At this point, even she herself felt more human than anything else.

Someone knocked on her door. Nikki put away her guitar, and asked for them to come in. Coulson entered the room.              
“Hello princess.”   
Nikki groaned and rolled her eyes.   
“Please, stop with the ‘princess’. I’m not a princess, I’m the Frièri.”  
Even though they had to be careful not to give her secret away, ever since they knew the truth, the team had given Nikki a new Nickname: ‘princess’. And Nikki absolutely hated it. And they loved that she hated it.             
“Nope! Princess suits you. You know, looking back on it, it’s not all that surprising to me. You always kind of acted like you were a little princess.”         
Nikki raised an eyebrow.    
“Don’t all children these days? I swear, the way that parents these days raise their children… Sure, it’s never okay to beat up your kid, but at least it made sure that I grew up to have some good manners…”                
Coulson gave out a little laugh.         
“Good manners? How about your impulsivity, with which you kidnapped and tortured Fitz-Simmons?”                
“That doesn’t count!” And she laughed as well.            
“Anyway, what’s up, Phil?”               
“As long as you’re Nicole, you’re still my agent, which means that it’s director to you.”     
“Well, if you get to go around, calling me ‘princess’, I have the right to call you Phil! I’m still a royal, you have no say over me!” She looked him in the eyes daringly.      
“I suppose we’ll have to talk about this later. Either way, I _do_ need Melorae right now, not Nicole.”                
Nikki looked at him confused.           
“Why? I thought we had decided that I’m Nikki. You know, to prevent the _apocalypse_!”   
“Don’t worry, I’m not asking for your powers. I just need to pick you brain right now. Your… _alien_ … brain.”                
Nikki just looked at him for a moment, before she nodded, and followed him out of the room.

He directed her to his office, where the rest of the team was already waiting. They were looking at the screens, which showed security-footage of some busy street. Nikki looked at the screens, confused.  
“Okay… This is kind of creepy. And exactly why I put a piece of duct-tape over the camera of my phone.”                
Daisy rolled her eyes.          
“Nick, we’re spies. So yes, we use these kinds of resources every once in a while.”             
Nikki looked back at the screens.      
“But why? I don’t see anything-”      
But she broke of her sentence when a purple, four-armed alien suddenly walked through the streets.                
“Oh…” She said quietly.      
Immediately after, the recording played again, looping around, and showing the same footage. Nikki fell silent, and the team stared at her intensely.  
“So?” Leah asked her after a while.  
Nikki looked at her.             
“What?”  
Leah stared her intensely in her eyes. “So, what was that thing? Because I certainly have never seen anything like it before! What’s the point in having an alien girlfriend, if she refuses to share her knowledge?” She winked.  
Nikki walked over to her, and sat down next to her, taking her hand.  
She looked back at the screens, and then the team.    
“Where was this?” She asked.          
“Just over 100 miles away.”              
Her eyes widened.               
“Ehm. Okay… And… have any more been spotted?” She tried to stay calm, but her eyes gave away a hint of fear.    
“Just the one.” May said. “Are you all right? What is it?”  
Nikki swallowed.  
“ _That_ , my dear friends… was a Girako.”          
The team shared a few confused looks, until Simmons spoke up.  
“Wait… Didn’t you say that the Girako killed your grandmother, and tortured your mother…?”       
Nikki nodded.       
“This is bad. For several reasons. One: He might recognise me. Which would definitely be bad… But even worse…”  
She took a deep breath.     
“The Girako and Aarkaa’aarians are much alike in one thing: Their ambitions to rule. Sure, if it’s just one, he could just be lost, or exiled. But he might be a scout. If that’s the case, we’re in a lot of trouble. This could be an invasion. We must capture him before he can contact his people.”    
The room fell silent, and Nikki got up.             
“I’m sorry I can’t help with this. If he sees me…”          
She sighed.            
“I wish you the best of luck.”            
And she left the room.


	2. All is fair in love and war

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fitz and Simmons are researching the alien weapon together, when they finally give in to their love for each other, and take the next step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, this didn't suddenly become that kind of fiction. I just really wanted to establish their relationship. It's nothing too graphic, mostly just kisses, and them talking about 'it' afterwards. I could've gone much further, but decided that there's plenty of that kind of fic out there, and didn't feel the need to add in any more. I just wanted a sweet scene between these two. #Fitz-Simmonsftw!

Unfortunately, as the team quickly found out, the Girako wasn’t alone, and before they knew it, they were flooded by reports of purple aliens raiding stores and attacking people.                
“We need to get to one and force them to tell us why they’re here. This is getting out of hand.” Coulson decided.  
“Okay, and how were you planning to do that? They have four freaking arms. And Nikki isn’t going to help us. We’re on our own.” Daisy said.   
Fitz looked up.      
“There are some promising things stored here in the base… D’you remember that stun-gun we found a while ago? Maybe I can rig it, and we can use it to capture one.”             
Coulson looked at him with mixed expressions on his face.       
“Maybe. But we don’t know exactly how that thing works. We store those items to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. We can’t just use them. It’s too dangerous.”            
But Simmons cut in.            
“Maybe he’s right, sir. We have all these things. In situations like this, I think we should use every resource we can. And this could really make a difference.”         
Coulson thought about this for a second.       
“Alright. But be careful. And don’t do anything until we know exactly how it works.”

They worked on it for hours every day, and finally managed to write an extensive report on its effects. They were sitting on the bed in Fitz’ room, discussing their data.            
“It so much different from anything we have here on earth…” Simmons said, fascinated.  
“Just be careful, this thing could be radioactive for all we know.”  
“Well, maybe that’s the thing. Judging by the data we have here, it looks like it shoots a beam of gamma radiation at its victim. But in doses just low enough to not permanently harm them… These kinds of levels of radiation might be just enough to temporarily disrupt vital processes in a person’s body… Well, an adult at least. It could kill a child.”             
“Let’s keep it away from Nikki then.”              
Simmons laughed.              
“Why, because you think it might harm her, or because you’re afraid she’s going to use it?”            
Fitz returned her laugh.      
“Let’s just leave that up for debate, okay?”   
There was a moment of silence, before Simmons moved her hand to his face, and kissed him.        
“Woah, what was that for?” Fitz asked, pleasantly surprised.   
“Just for the fact that you’re… _you_ , I suppose… We’re going to fix this. The same way we always do: Together.”             
Fitz pushed all files onto the floor, and pushed her back onto the bed, as he continued to kiss her. He ran one hand across her body, while the other hand slowly moved down to her thigh.             
“You’re amazing…” He said quietly.  
Simmons turned around, so that she was now lying on top of him, and she planted kisses all over his face, and then moved down to his neck. She stopped for a moment, took off her shirt, and continued to kiss him. Fitz looked up at her. She was beautiful. Her skin was soft and smooth, and the curvature of her body was just right. He felt his heart flutter over the thought that she was really his’, before he noticed that her hand had moved down to his pants, unfastening his belt. Fitz moved away from her kisses, hesitating. No… this was wrong.           
“Wait, Jemma…” He said quietly, but she continued. He took her hand, stopping her.        
“Jemma, stop… I can’t…”    
She opened her eyes and looked down upon him, disappointed, and slightly ashamed.    She rolled off of him, and sat down on the bed, wrapping the blanket around herself to cover up her body.  
“Sorry… That was stupid…” She said, apologetically.   
He sat up as well and put his hand on her shoulder.    
“No… It’s not that, I just…”                
He took a moment to examine her and think.               
“I don’t deserve you… You could do so much better than me. I can’t do this. It’s not fair to you.”    
She looked up and stared him in his eyes. She looked confused, but her eyes also gave away some relief, as she realised the real reason that he had pushed her away. Not for his sake, but for _hers_.             
“No… _This_ is not fair to me…”           
“I’m sorry, Jemma. I just… didn’t want to move to fast. I don’t want to push you into things you don’t want to do…”  
She moved in closer and put one hand on his chest. She smiled.  
“You don’t have to worry about that, Fitz. I want this… I want _you_.”  
She kissed him again. Moments later, they were completely entangled with each other, as they shared their love until deep in the night… 

The next morning, when Fitz woke up, Simmons was gone, and the only clothes left on the floor were his own. He felt his heart drop.  
“Jemma?”  
He put his hands to his head, thinking. Last night had really happened… How could he have been so stupid? She must have woken up, ashamed, and regretting what they’d done last night in a wave of passion and left. How could he face her again? Was she angry with him? Was she hurt? His stomach twisted uncomfortably around in his body, as a wave of nausea hit him. But then the door opened again, and Simmons walked in, holding a glass of water. She gave a warm smile when she saw him looking.                 
“Hey… you’re awake.”        
Fitz looked up.      
“I thought you left…”          
“Why would I do that? No, I just went to get some water.”        
She sat down on the bed, next to him, before planting a kiss on his lips. Fitz sat up and begun to ramble.                
“Jemma, about last night-”               
But she cut him off.             
“It was nice. Unexpected, yes, but nice. I had fun.”      
She planted another kiss on his lips, and laid back down next to him, pulling up the blankets to just below her face.                
“I didn’t hurt you?”             
She looked at him with a warm smile on her face.        
“Of course not. You could never hurt me!”    
Fitz laid back down as well and stroke her cheek with the back of his hand.          
“Why me?”           
Simmons let out a little sigh and shot him a frustrated look.     
“Fitz… Don’t make me name all the reasons… That’s cruel, we’ll be stuck here all day.”     
“I wouldn’t mind that.” He gave a little smile, but Simmons knew that he was still hesitant, and uncertain.               There was a moment of silence, as they both stared into each other’s eyes.        
“You saved my life more times than I can count. But even before that… Fitz… you’re the one who has always had my back. The one that I could always trust in times of need. Ever since the day we met, at the academy, here in this team, through all the crazy shit we’ve been though…”        
She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around him.  Their faces were just inches apart, and he could smell the sweet scent of her perfume. He wrapped his arms around her as well, savouring this moment, as she whispered quietly.  
“You’ve been beside me the whole time.”


	3. Captured

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team captures a Girako, and question it. It's not all that keen on coorperating, though...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will discuss some sort of racial discrimination of sorts. The alien will look down heavily upon the human race, and give some really harsh and upsetting remarks. If this bothers you, be careful.

They continued to research the weapon in the days after, until they finally showed their findings to Coulson.  
“This weapon would be perfect to capture one of those aliens.” Coulson said finally. “Good work.”                
In the meantime, Daisy had used her hacking skills to do some research and find where the Girako were last spotted. She quickly located a possible hideout.   
“Great! Daisy, you will take agent May and Leah to capture one and bring them to the base. I’ll have Fitz-Simmons prepare a containment room.”

Just moments later, May, Daisy and Leah were on the Zephyr, flying towards the hideout.              
“It’s weird not having Nick with us.” Leah said suddenly, to break the silence. “We always did these kinds of things together.”            
Daisy sat down next to her and wrapped one arm around her shoulders.              
“We can do this without her. She made up her mind, and we knew why she backed out of this mission. But we can do this without her. You are just as valuable to us on your own, as you are combined with Nikki.”  
May turned her head and looked back at them from the cockpit.  
“Besides, this isn’t the first time we’re without her, right? Everything will be fine.”             
Leah smiled.          
“Thanks. You’re right. We don’t need her.” She got up, looking determined. “Now let’s kick some Girako butt!”     
Daisy laughed, but May just nodded. “Good, because we’re here.”

May activated the cloaking of the ship, so that they could land close to the hideout without being spotted. They snuck around for a while, before ending up on top of a hill, looking out over a farmhouse.  
“Damn.” Leah said, excited. “I feel like a proper spy now. We need rifles and camouflaged clothes, and one of those little bushes you can wear and walk around in!”   
Daisy and May looked at her, confused.         
“Okay…” Daisy begun. “I’m not quite sure where the reality stopped, and the cartoons kicked in.” But then she laughed.                
May looked around at them and hushed for them to be quiet. She pointed down at the farmhouse, and saw a purple, four-armed man walk around it. After a while, he’d walked some part away from the building, leaving him a vulnerable target.       
“Great! Let’s go and get this over with.” Daisy said, and she handed may the stun gun. Fitz-Simmons had made some modifications, increasing its accuracy to just over half a mile. Perfect. May aimed and fired. The Girako was blown back a couple of feet and fell unconscious. The team rushed down the hill to capture him, and bring him back to the Zephyr, before any more Girako noticed what was going on. They had to hurry.

A couple more Girako had walked outside and saw them. They ran up to them, raising their weapons threateningly. Without hesitation, Leah used her powers to blind them, after which Daisy used her own to knock them back a few feet. May had already reached for her gun to help out, but then she noticed that she didn’t need to.      
“Good work!” She said approvingly, before turning back to the unconscious Girako, and tying him up. They managed to get him back to the Zephyr without any more trouble. Looked like they didn’t need Nikki or Melorae after all. They were a good team.

Just a couple of hours later, they had returned, and locked the captured Girako in a containment module. When it woke up, it tried to escape, bashing against the walls, but he couldn’t even dent them. After a while he calmed down a bit, though he was clearly very angry. It was now that Coulson decided to talk to it.             
“Hello. I am Director Coulson, the leader of this organisation. I would just like to ask you a few questions.”                
The Girako didn’t answer, but spit at the glass that was separating them. It left a bright-yellow stain on the window, which seemed to be able to move on its own.       
“Eww, gross…” Simmons said quietly, as she turned her head away. She had been there to make sure that the modifications to the containment module were right, and the Girako was securely locked up. The blob of saliva slowly crawled to the side, while drifting down over the glass. Simmons wondered who’d be prepared to clean that. Coulson however, didn’t flinch, and just continued to talk to the strange alien.                
“Do you have a name?”      
The Girako looked up at him.            
“Yes, but you worms are not worthy of speaking it.” His eyes were filled with rage, and the muscles in his four arms tightened.           
“I suppose I’ll just call you ‘Girako’, then. But do realise that it was us ‘worms’ who managed to capture you. Without that much effort, I might add.”                
For a moment it looked like the Girako was going to explode into another fit of anger, but he held back.                
“What do you have against humans?” Simmons suddenly blurted out, before she’d even noticed it herself.                
He looked at her, his face filled with disgust.  
“How dare you speak to me? You are nothing. You are one of the most pathetic life-forms I’ve ever come across. Why no one has yet taken over this planet beats me, because you won’t last a day against a real army, like ours.”   
Simmons looked down at the ground. Was that really how alien life saw them? As some pathetic worms that just happened to crawl around on this planet? But then Coulson cut in, still looking as determined as before.    
“Why would you say that? You clearly haven’t done nearly enough research. We’ve been attacked by alien invaders before. And we beat them every time. We’ll beat you too, you can count on it.”       
The Girako gave a small laugh.         
“You think that’s why we’re here?” His face was filled by disgust over the very thought of this. “No, you can keep your pathetic little planet. We have no interest in ruling over you. You are just like ants that I can crush under my boot. Sure, it would be fun to capture and torture a couple of you. I needed some new toys anyway, but that’s definitely not why we’re here.”     
Simmons was trembling slightly, although she tried not to show it. She’d been in contact with many alien life-forms now, and none of her experiences had been rather pleasant. However, this one intimidated her more than anything. He didn’t even want to rule them. He didn’t even care, that’s how little he thought of them. The mere thought of being captured by him, and tortured for fun, made her stomach twist with nausea.   
“Then why are you here?” Coulson asked, still standing his ground, but Simmons could see that his hands too were shaking.                
“That’s none of your damn business.” The Girako spat at him. “Though I must say that I’m very interested in that weapon you used to bring me here… That’s not from your world, is it? I should’ve figured… you would never have been able to capture me on your own, you needed help of your superiors. Do you have more of those things stored here, by any chance?” His eyes met Coulson’s as he gave a devilish grin. And Coulson knew he wasn’t going to get any more out of him. Not now, anyway.     
“Simmons, are you sure the room is secure?” He asked her.      
She looked at her tablet and nodded.             
“From what Nick told us, this room should be able to hold him, and all his powers back.”  
The Girako looked at her fascinated.               
“Oh, so you have a resident expert on my people? How interesting. Maybe you’re not as stupid and pathetic as I thought…”      
Simmons swallowed, but Coulson just took her arm, and pulled her out of the room.        
“Not a really clever idea to tell him about Nicole, Simmons.” He said to her when they were somewhere more private.        
She shook her head. “No, I know. I’m sorry. It just sort of slipped out.”  
“Well, let’s just hope this’ll be all the information he gets on her. He doesn’t know who ‘Nick’ is, right?”                
She nodded, before heading back to the lab to check on Fitz.

There was a problem though, because, as they quickly found out, the Girako wasn’t planning on staying locked up for long. They don’t know how, but he managed to break out of the containment room, and rush through the base. Not only that, but apparently, he had been carrying a small communications device, with which he sent a signal to someone. Probably his fellow Girako. And the team quickly realised what he was looking for: The stun gun. And any other alien weapons, for that matter. The team retreated to Coulson’s office, while Fitz-Simmons were trying to neutralise and store away the weapon before the rogue alien could find it. And in the meantime, Coulson had no other options, but call General Glenn Talbot for help.


	4. Escaped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The base is raided, and the team takes desperate measures.

Coulson, May, Daisy and Leah were sitting in Coulson’s office, as General Talbot was pacing around the room.      
“You did _what_?” He asked furiously.            
Coulson had just explained Talbot everything, from how they captured the Girako, to how it escaped, and an entire hoard of Girako was now outside the base, ready to get in. Talbot didn’t take it very well.  
“This is a disaster Coulson! How could you have let this happen? This is a job for the US military!”  
But Coulson looked back calmly.      
“And what would you say to them? How do you plan on getting them to fight purple aliens with four arms? The Girako are fierce warriors. You could never beat them, it would be a massacre!”            
“Well what do you propose then?”  
“For now, we need to keep the weapon we used to capture the Girako, out of their hands. Fitz-Simmons are in the lab right now to secure it. They should be here soon, after they finished that.”

Fitz and Simmons were in the lab, working on the strange alien-weapon. For reasons they did not know, the Girako had seemed very interested in it, and they didn’t want to find out why. They were trying to neutralise its effects, and lock it away, when the escaped Girako suddenly barged into the room, and went straight for the weapon. Simmons tried to reach for it, but she was too late. The weapon was fired, and she was knocked back a couple of feet, into the wall, and fell onto the ground unconscious.           
“Jemma!” Fitz shouted, as he rushed to her side, and turned her over. A small stream of blood trickled down her head. He checked her pulse and was relieved to find that she was alive. He looked back into the room and saw the Girako coming in closer. He pointed the weapon at him as well.             
“No, please…” He begged.  
But then, somewhere else in the base, he heard an explosion, and the Girako turned around, and ran in its direction quickly.

“What the hell was that?” Talbot demanded, and Coulson quickly looked for the security footage.  
“There’s been an explosion in the hangar. They’re trying to get in!”  
Daisy walked over to the screens as well, shocked.      
“We’ve got to do something! Let me go in there! I can use my powers to take them out!”               
May got up as well.             
“In that case, I’m going with you. You don’t have to do this alone.”  
But Coulson turned around.              
“No. You’re staying right here. Both of you.”  
“But Coulson…”    
“That’s an order! There are too many, we can’t win this. We just have to wait for Fitz-Simmons.”  
But right then, Fitz walked into the room, supporting a very weak Simmons.        
“Yeah, about that… We’ve got a problem.”    
He put Simmons in a chair.               
“The escaped Girako, he took it.” She said with a lot of effort.  
Talbot was furious.              
“They have the super dangerous alien weapon? Coulson! What is this madness?”             
Daisy looked from Fitz and Simmons, back to Coulson.              
“Is there really nothing else we can do?”       
Coulson took a deep breath, thinking, before he addressed Talbot.  
“There’s one more thing. Our last line of defence. We had promised not to use it, but desperate times call for desperate measures.”  
“What kind of desperate measures are you talking about? Like recruiting a kid?” He gestured at Leah. Once he’d found out about her, he’d been furious. How could Coulson even consider recruiting a child like that?               
Daisy looked up at Coulson, and immediately understood. “I guess I’ll go get Nick…” She said quietly and left the room.       
Talbot was confused, but somewhat relieved. He imagined this ‘Nick’ to be a strong, muscular man, with some sort of amazing combat experience, which would definitely help them to take out this alien threat. Needless to say, he was surprised that when Daisy entered the room again, she was not followed by a strong man, but a petite young girl. Another child.      
“Goddammit, Coulson! Another child? Are you insane? _This_ is ‘Nick’? How could _she_ possibly be your answer to this?”   
Nikki didn’t look up at Talbot but stared at Coulson with a furious look in her eyes. However, she did answer Talbots question, before she addressed Coulson.          
“Nick, short for Nikki, short for Nicole. Pleasure. Now, Coulson, what is the meaning of this? What’s going on?”        
Coulson returned her gaze, and looked at her for a moment, in silence.  
“Melorae.” Coulson said shortly.      
Nikki’s eyes widened, shocked. She was silent for a moment, until her expression changed. She gave a sarcastic laugh.     
“Oh no. Nah ah. You’re not doing that to me!”             
“Nicole, we need her. She’s the only one who can save us. Now bring her to us!”               
She folded her arms, as she grew even more angry.    
“How dare you?” She asked.             
Talbot looked between the two curiously.     
“What do you mean? Who is ‘Melorae’? Does she know someone who could help us? Is it some sort of codename? I want answers, Coulson!”           
But neither of them listened to him, as they both kept staring at each other. Nikki took a step forward, furious.   
“You have no right.” She said. “You may have recruited Nikki, but Melorae isn’t your lapdog! I told you about that because I trusted you! You have no right to just ‘add her to your resources’. Don’t you dare force me into that, especially not with _him_ around.” She pointed at Talbot.          
“Excuse me?” Talbot exclaimed, surprised. “What the hell is going on?”               
But Coulson still ignored him and addressed Nikki directly.       
“Nicole, you have to, or all is lost.”   
“I don’t _have to_ do a damn thing! I’ve told you the risks. I trusted you with this, but I don’t know _him_. Not to mention the fact that I can’t get any of them escape alive, since they’d have seen my face! It’s too risky! I told you that I didn’t want to have anything to do with this! This is _your_ mess, fix it yourself!”       
Suddenly, Leah stepped forward.     
“Nick… Please. We’re not _ordering_ you, we’re _asking_ you. _Begging_ you… You’re our last hope. If they destroy S.H.I.E.L.D., they’ll destroy the Earth soon after. Please… save our planet. It’s your planet too, right? Don’t you care?”       
Nikki’s expression softened.             
“I’ve lived here longer than you, why’re you calling me an alien?” She said jokingly, with a little smile.                
“Wait, _she_ ’s an alien? Coulson, why don’t I know these things?” Talbot said, frustrated, but everyone still ignored him, as though he wasn’t in the room.            
“One condition.” Nikki said calmly, as though she was making a business proposal.           
“Name your price.” Coulson replied in a same manner.              
Nikki pointed at Talbot.      
“Tie him down. Gag him. Blindfold him and lock him up somewhere. He is not to leave until I say so. If that means he never leaves, so be it!”     
Talbot’s eyes widened.       
“This is an outrage! Coulson, you can’t seriously-”      
But Coulson broke him off mid-sentence, still looking at Nikki. Without any doubt or hesitation, he replied:                 
“Done! Now go save the base.”        
Agent may immediately pulled out her gun and pointed it at Talbot.  
“Coulson!” He said furiously, but Daisy already tied him down and gagged him.  
Simmons had already rushed over to the vault under the table, and handed Amari to Nikki, the symbols glowing red.

Talbot was taken away quickly, and could just see Nikki open up the window, transform into a phoenix, and fly away.


	5. Save the day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melorae jumps in to fight the Girako, only to find that it's a trap.

The Girako were in the hangar, easily killing off any agents that had happened to be there. The rest of the team would take care of the escaped Girako, while Nikki/Melorae would have to sort out the rest. One of the Girako held the long staff, and forcefully put one end on the ground, sending a shockwave through the hangar. Many agents were sent flying back, and others fell into the large cracks that were formed into the ground. The whole base was shaking.    

But then, Melorae suddenly landed in the middle of the hangar, and the Girako froze.     She transformed back into a person, her armour glistening in the streaks of sunlight that beamed upon them. She was trembling, deathly afraid of what would happen if any of them escaped, but she stood her ground. The first Girako recognised her, and Melorae felt her heart drop. It was the emperor.        
“Well, well. An Aarkaa’aarian. And not just any Aarkaa’aarian, I see. Men, we are humbled by the presence of Frièri Melorae I’aiki. Take a knee!”             
None of the Girako were kneeling, since it was clear that he had meant for _her_ to kneel. But Melorae stood her ground. However, she hesitated. The emperor didn’t look all that surprised to see her. She was supposed to be dead. How could he have known that she’d be here?  
“Lord Axilmay. Our meeting is not a coincidence, is it?” She asked the emperor.  
He gave a little laugh.         
“We have our sources. You should really check in on the people that are working for you and your mother… Not everyone is all that delighted to have your family rule over them.”               
A mole. Of course. Ever since her mother had taken over the throne, and stopped the old, aggressive ways of Aarkaa’aaria, groups of rebels had tried to take over the throne.        
“So, this was all just a game for you, then?” Melorae asked. “You attack my friends, just to lure me out? Why?”    
“Our ‘confidante’ in your royal inner circle had made us a deal. Apart from the fact that I would just love to kill another I’aiki, I wonder what kind of favours Asgard will bestow on us, when we deliver the rogue princess to them. All that Tiaika asked of us in return for the information she gave us, was that we were to deliver her weapon back to her.”                
Tiaika. The head of the guard of the Aarkaa’aarian prisons. Of course this would be her. She’d been complaining about the lack of prisoners to ‘entertain herself with’ for a while now. Because of her aggressive ways, the Frièro had taken her weapon away from her, though Melorae didn’t know what that was. No… It couldn’t be… the stun gun? Questions rose through her head, but she decided to only ask the most pressing one.              
“Does Asgard know of my location?”              
“No, not yet. For all they know, you are still dead. Because soon, you will be.”     
Melorae was trembling. If they were here for her, did that mean they brought Iganomi, the deadly poison that could kill an Aarkaa’aarian? She didn’t have to wait long before she got her answer, because the emperor took out his sword, which was glistening with the orange glow of the poison.     
Melorae reached for her staff, refusing to give up without a fight.  
“Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be then? You are going to fight us? Have you forgotten what happened to your grandmother? Then again, maybe your head _would_ look nice on the spike next to hers… But then again, it would be much easier if you just gave up and came with us without resisting. We promise to show your ‘friends’ mercy. We will make sure that their deaths are swift.”           
Melorae balled her fists.     
“My grandmother was a wicked woman. May the universe rest in peace over her lost life. But Earth is my home now. I cannot allow you to stand on its surface if you threaten it. Or threaten my friends. Lord Axilmay, may the blood spilled today restore the peace in the universe!”

She activated Amari, and two blades slid out of both ends, before she jumped forwards, attacking the Girako. She tried to use her sword to take him out, but she quickly felt a burning sensation in her side as the sword of her foe cut open a piece of flesh. She flinched, as the pain shot through her body, and the poison prevented her from healing the wound. She dodged the next strike, and the next, but she couldn’t get close enough to him to strike again, without risking her own life. In the meantime, the other Girako had moved in. Some were shooting at her, from every direction, and another group was coming in closer, encircling her, and pointing their weapons at her. One Girako came up from behind her, and grabbed her arms, with two of his own, while using a third to take her sword. His hand got burned, and the sword retracted back into the staff, but the damage was done, and Melorae had lost her weapon, powerless.                 
“Can’t we just kill each other in peace?” She asked sarcastically, but the fear showed clearly in her eyes.                
This was too much. Even though this wasn’t the entire army, just a dozen of Girako, she knew she couldn’t win this, not when they had Iganomi. Panicked, she transformed into a phoenix, and flew away (The transformation had caused the Girako to let go of her). She flew to the other side of the hangar and landed on a steel beam that was hanging from the ceiling, looking down on the Girako, out of reach. She reached for her ear, to the com that she was wearing, and the called out to the team, which was still in Coulson’s office, watching.  
“Fucking hell, this dude’s a beast!” She said to the team, as to indicate that this wasn’t what she’d signed up for.                    
She was still sitting high up and assessing her situation. She couldn’t win this fight, but she couldn’t let them go either. She had to do something. But she didn’t have much time to think, as she saw emperor Axilmay climb up the walls of the hangar with ease. Shit. Where did he learn how to do that?         
“Uh, guys… He’s coming right for me.”           
Daisy looked at the camera footage, and gasped, as the yelled out to her.            
“Well then get the hell out of there!”             
Melorae let go of the steel beam, and let herself drop down from the ceiling, plummeting to the ground. Right before she hit it, she transformed back into a phoenix, and flew over the hoard of Girako warriors, unleashing a wave of fire over them, before flying back up, and seeking shelter somewhere else on the ceiling, before turning back. If she couldn’t take them out from up close, this would have to do. She could see that the fire had taken out some of the Girako. Good. So this worked. However, she was far from safe, and the army kept shooting at her from a distance, leaving her to dodge around, trying to stay safe. When one of the arrows, tipped with the poison, scraped past her, she decided to fly away and change her position again. Her body was burning from the wounds, and the poison that was covering them. Not only did it prevent her from healing, it caused her to be in excruciating pain, worse than anything she’d felt before. She contacted the team again.           
“Well, at least I hope I go down in a blaze of glory. Remember this day, guys. Sing songs about me!” She said jokingly, showing that even in the most dire situation, she still had her cheerful spirit. Leah laughed. God, she loved her. But she still couldn’t help but be afraid. She could barely breathe, and her heart was beating furiously in her chest.           
“Come on, Nick. You can do this. I believe in you! Please save us.”  
They heard her grunt on the other side of the line.      
“I can save _you_ if you save _me_. Can’t I get a _little_ help here?”    
Daisy looked up. Of course! She took out her laptop and started typing some things. The rest of the team looked at her, confused, but then they found out what she was doing, as the Zephyr’s battle systems suddenly became active. She had hacked into the fleet!  
The Zephyr started shooting around, taking out some of the other Girako.           
“Thank you.” Melorae said absentmindedly, as she was still trying to dodge the shots fired her way, and the emperor coming after her. God, was she happy she could fly.           
“Keep fighting lads!” She said sarcastically to the Girako that were trying to take out the weapons on the Zephyr. Melorae shot a big wave of fire their way, causing a big explosion that took out the last remaining Girako, including Lord Axilmay.        
“Yeah, baby!”       
The hangar was filled with fire, and the damage was great, but at least it was over now. Fitz would be able to fix the Zephyr later. She dropped down from the ceiling, and looked at the roaring flames, holding out her hand to stop them.     

But it wasn’t over. The emperor suddenly emerged from the flames, burned badly, but he didn’t seem to care. He just walked up to her, his eyes blazing just as hot and angry as the fire. Melorae lowered her hands and took a step back.              
“Fucking hell, this dude _is_ a beast.”  
But he was fast, and before she knew it, he had run up to her, and pinned her to the ground.         
“Can’t we just kill each other in peace?” She asked again, trying to alleviate the situation. But he just brought his hands to her neck, choking her. Everything went black…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've very sneakily added in the lyrics of a certain song... If you find it, leave it in the comments, and you'll get 10 Jacksepticeye-points, that you can use for a plane ticket to Bossetronia! ALL THE WAY!!


	6. Save Melorae

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melorae is captured by the Girako, and he's not happy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will involve torture. I've tried to make it not extremely graphic, but it will be much worse than anything I've done before. Be careful if this bothers you.

When she woke up, she didn’t know where she was. It was dark, and she was sitting on a stony floor. A cave perhaps? She was sitting on her knees, and her hands were chained to the floor beside her, like she was some sort of animal. She couldn’t get up.            

The emperor noticed that she’d woken up, and walked up to her, before he punched her right across her face four times: Once with each fist. She gasped, and coughed up some blood, as more trickled down from her nose. Her lip had split open, and was bleeding as well, and she couldn’t open one of her eyes.                
“I was just going to deliver you to your father, but you really made me angry. I guess it’s my turn to have some fun with you first.”  
Melorae stayed silent, and just looked up at him. Her body was aching, but she refused to give into the pain. She remembered all the mediation that she’d done in her life. ‘It’s just another feeling… Just another thought… Don’t resist it… Coexist with it…’ She kept repeating to herself. And surely enough, even though she still felt the pain, burning through her body, she could focus her mind to feel less disturbed by it. She wasn’t going to scream. She wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. But he just looked down on her, examining her.  
“This looks familiar…” He said quietly. “Where have I seen this before? Ah! Of course! This is exactly how your mother looked when I had her tortured! Like mother, like daughter, it seems.”          
Melorae felt a wave of anger but treated that in the same way as her pain. ‘Just another feeling… Just another thought… It won’t get you anywhere… Let it go…’ She still refused to say anything.            
“Stubborn, are we?” The emperor said, annoyed. “Don’t worry. There’s plenty more pain coming for you.”                
She looked around. Knives, whips, and all kinds of other medieval torture devices were scattered over the floor, all dripping with Iganomi. She braced herself. Her breath quickened, as her heart was racing inside her chest, and her mind went crazy over what kinds of horrible things were going to happen to her. Where was the team? Were they looking for her? Or had they given up on her, now that the base was secure, and they didn’t have any need for her anymore? She honestly didn’t know and could only wonder.

It continued for what seemed like hours. Her mind couldn’t focus on anything but the pain, and meditation didn’t work anymore. Her mangled body was bleeding all over, everything hurting immensely, and there still wasn’t any sign of the team. How would they even find her? The emperor continued, shoving a knife deep into her gut. This one wasn’t dipped in Iganomi, so she’d be able to heal it, but it still hurt like hell. And that was probably the reason that it w _asn’t_ dipped in the poison. Because he didn’t want her to die, he wanted her to suffer. And she could slowly feel her life slip away. The sensation of dying was haunting her, looming above her head, even though she knew that she couldn’t. And _that_ was the worst part. She was trapped in a place with an infinite amount of pain, somewhere between life and death, with no way out.

Even though she’d given up resisting a while ago, and was now screaming with anguish, she was still desperately trying to find an object of focus, to numb the pain. Her breath? No… even breathing hurt right now, as she probably broke more than a few ribs. Her throat was sore from all the screaming, and her tongue felt like a piece of sandpaper in her mouth. Due to the blood loss, she was severely dehydrated. She couldn’t move her arms, which were hanging in an unnatural position besides her, and she’d lost most feeling in her legs from the constant kneeling. Of course he’d forced her into a kneeling position… It was the most humiliating, degrading, and unhumanising thing you could do to royalty. Luckily, she wasn’t too phased by this, since she didn’t feel like royalty that much anyway, and actually took comfort by seating herself into a kneeling position whenever she was distressed, or scared. But of course, she didn’t say that…

However, the fact that she had no control over her body, and couldn’t move any limb, made her feel utterly helpless… She kept searching around her body, for something, _anything_ to take her mind of the pain, and that was when she found it. The sensation was drowned out by the constant blows of the whip against her skin, but she could feel the little earpiece, still sitting in her ear, untouched. The earpiece with a tracker in it. Of course! The Girako didn’t know about this world’s technology! And now, the team was going to find, and save her… Weren’t they?

Suddenly, she heard a noise in the distance, and the Girako did too. Of course, he didn’t recognise the sound, but she did. That was the unmistakable roar of the engines of a quinjet. She couldn’t supress a little smirk, which was immediately met with another punch to the face.              
“What are you smiling? What is that noise?” The emperor demanded, but she kept silent, and kept smiling, giving him a devilish grin. He punched her again.          
“Answer me!”       
He kept punching her, and she kept smiling. He was growing desperate. Good.

The cave shook, by the unmistakable powers of ‘Quake’ a.k.a. Daisy. Axilmay lost his balance and tumbled on the ground. Purely instinctively, Melorae closed her eyes, and right after, a bright light went over the cave, emitted by Leah’s glowing hands. Axilmay was lying on the ground, reaching for his eyes, cowering on the floor. Was this pathetic monster really what had captured her?  
Simmons ran up to her to inspect her injuries, while Daisy used her powers to shatter the chains.  
“Boy, am I glad to see you guys…” She said weakly, as she fell limp to the floor.   
Leah rushed up to her.        
“No! Nick, stay with me! This is _not_ where your story ends, you hear me? This is not where _our_ story ends.” She pulled her in for a hug, before kissing her.  
In the background, she could hear the Girako groaning, and could see him getting up. Without hesitation, Simmons picked up the stun gun, that they’d apparently brought, and shot him three times. He was knocked back into the cave wall and fell to the ground.             
“That is for hurting my friend!” She said, her voice filled with anger.  
Nikki looked up at her and couldn’t supress another smile. ‘Friend’. They were friends. And they came for her. They risked their own lives to save her. She’d always been the one to save the day, but now, there where here for _her_. They were here, and she was safe. With a warm feeling in her heart, which drowned out the pain, she fell asleep in Leah’s arms, exhausted.


	7. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nikki gets rescued, and is finally back home, in the aftermath of her torture.

When she woke up, most of her wounds had been treated. Nikki sat up carefully, still in quite some pain. Simmons had heard her get up and looked around.     
“You’re awake! Thank god!” She walked over to her and pulled her into a hug.    
“We were so worried. He really did a number on you. I did everything I could to patch you up as best as I could, but your biology is so different. And with that weird poison in all your wounds, I just didn’t know what to do. I cleaned out some of it, hoping that it would help you heal-”             
She kept rambling on for a couple of minutes. Simmons had taken a sample of her blood a while ago, and the two of them had done some extensive research on it. Simmons was fascinated by her biology, and even Nikki found out a couple of interesting things about herself. However, nothing had prepared Simmons for this, and she didn’t know how differently Nikki’s body would react to her treatment, leaving her slightly panicked. After a while, Nikki carefully took her hands, stopping her panicked gesturing in mid-air, before looking her in her eyes, and giving a smile. She broke off Simmons’ ramble.  
“Thank you.” She said simply. “I’ll be fine. Now that the poison is mostly out of my system, my injuries should heal like any other human’s.” She took a moment of silence. “You saved my life…”  
Simmons smiled back.        
“Well, after all this time… It only seemed right that we returned the favour for once.”       
Coulson suddenly burst into the room, once he’d heard that Nikki had woken up.              
“Nicole, I am so, so sorry. I didn’t know that it was a trap. I should’ve. And I should’ve never forced you in this position, this is my fault.”  
But she just shook her head.             
“They knew I was here. I couldn’t have let them leave anyway. You couldn’t have known, and you couldn’t have prevented it.”             
But then her expression changed.    
“What happened to Lord Axilmay?” She asked.            
Simmons gave her a little smile.       
“After you were taken, Fitz and I gave the stun gun another look. We figured that if we’d higher the doses of gamma-radiation, it could be a lethal weapon. That must be why they wanted it so badly. He’s gone, Nick. You’re safe now.”       
Nikki looked down at the bed she was in and thought about this.  
“My mother probably already heard about this… And if Lord Axilmay is dead, that means that she’ll probably take over now. My mother may have sworn off war, but this is an easy catch. I doubt she can resist. Moreover, it might calm down the Aarkaa’aarian people a bit, knowing that they conquered again. It would be the smart move.”  
Coulson looked at her.        
“About your mother… Why do you think she didn’t come to save you? You’re her daughter. I thought she could sense it if you were in danger?”            
Nikki nodded.       
“I don’t blame her. She knew I’d hold out, and that I had you looking after me. The fact that she didn’t come can only mean that she really trusts you… Besides, she had to deal with a mole. I have no doubt that Tiaika had sent the Girako here to kill me, while she tried to take out my mother in the meantime. But the fact that I can still sense my mother’s life, can only mean that both coups failed.”

She took a deep sigh, when she suddenly realised something.  
“Wait, what happened to Talbot?”  
Coulson brought his hand to his face.             
“Right. I guess that in the chaos I’ve forgotten about him. Well, last time I saw him was right after you flew out the window. May was just taking him to a containment room. I think he’s still in there.”   
Nikki nodded.       
“Well… let him out then. Bring him here. It might be best if we just explain everything to him, otherwise we’ll have the military on our roof soon… I would go and see him myself, but I doubt _doctor_ Simmons here is going to let me leave, considering my current state.”  
Simmons gave a short nod.               
“Damn right you are. You nearly died!”          
Nikki looked back at Coulson.           
“Case in point.”    
Coulson laughed. “Well, I’ll have him escorted here then. I’ll try to explain part of the story myself if you don’t mind. At least, the part that I understand. In the meantime, get some rest, you deserve it.”  
He walked over to the door.             
“And Nicole…” He said from the doorway. “Thank you for saving the base. We owe you one.”         
She smiled.           
“Anytime, Phil.”    
And he left the room.

At first, Talbot was furious about the way he’d been tied up, and shoved in a containment room, with little respect, and no answers.  
Leah looked at him curiously, before she addressed Nikki.        
“Huh. Strange. I thought that you were the only one who could spit fire, Nick!”   
Nikki laughed. Leah was sitting on Nikki’s bed, next to her, with one of her arms around her girlfriend, and using the other to hold her hand. Talbot was standing in front of them, his arms tied behind his back, and being restrained by May, while the rest of the team was also in the room, all armed with ICERS, just in case.               
Nikki calmly explained the base line of who she was, and how she got here on earth, with extra emphasis over why he couldn’t tell anyone about what had happened today, and what he’d seen. She left out the most personal parts but told him just enough, so he could understand. At long last, he calmed down a little.          
“And exactly how long have you had this superhuman alien princess in you base, Coulson?” He asked finally.     
Nikki threw her hands in the air.       
“I am not a goddamn princess!”       
But Coulson just answered Talbot.   
“Over one and a half year. But we’ve only know it for, what, 4, 5 months?”         
The rest of the team nodded in agreement.   
“And why wasn’t I, or someone else with authority informed?”  
Nikki sighed.         
“Don’t make me explain again… I’m tired… Can I get some rest, please?”              
Talbot looked like he was going to argue, but then he slowly nodded. He walked over to Coulson, and spoke quietly, so that only he could hear. The rest of the team turned their attention back to Nikki, as they just talked about some random things.  
“Alright. I trust your judgement, Coulson. But realise that she could be dangerous. How can you trust her? What if she turns on you? You won’t have anyone to help you. She could take over this world in a matter of days.”   
“I know, general. But she won’t. She could’ve killed all of us about a million times already, but I know she’s just looking for a home. She’s just a kid, Talbot.” He left out the part that Nikki had in fact turned on them a couple of months ago, before they knew of her identity.  
Talbot finally nodded.         
“Does that mean I can leave, or am I going to need my soldiers to bust me out of here?”  
The team looked at him in surprise, before looking back at Nikki. She was the one in charge right now, after all. She pulled up her shoulders.            
“Sure. You can go. But please just keep quiet about Melorae. For all the world knows: My name is Nicole Dace, and I’m an inhuman girl with pyrokinetic powers. That’s the identity I took on, and that’s who I’d like it to stay.”      
Coulson looked at Talbot.   
“I’ll have you escorted back to your base.”


End file.
